Any more NYG stories?

Besides the question in the subject, I was just curious to know whether all the characters were represented well during the NYG? From memory, I don't recall hearing of any outstanding Taka play. Was this the case?

re: taka players
as an aside, when vf3 first came out mason wood (a vf2 jeff player) decided to pick up taka as his main character. he even came in second at a early tournament we held at umass. unfortunately he entirely dropped out of the vf scene early on.

re: nyg
well, compared to the chicago gathering not much has been posted about this, which is kinda surprising. for people who went to both, how did the ny gathering compare: atmosphere, competition, etc.?

this was my first real overnight gathering with people outside the northeast, and i had a very good time. playing vf was fun, but hanging out with everyone was equally fun. there were one or two people that sometimes annoyed me (at one point i had to get up and leave the room for fear of causing a scene), but that was to be expected.

here are a couple gameplay questions i was meaning to ask at the gathering but didn't get around to it:

mike: when you knock someone down face up feet towards, and you see them begin to roll to the side, which way do you dodge/ks to get to their backside? what's the trick?

jeff: when you play lion, why do you dodge before cd *f+pg after an elbow stagger? or was it any elbow that connected?

umm, can't think of any other questions off the top of my head.

i would appreciate a candid evaluation of everyone's gameplay. i shall begin in the order that i played people (minus the boston crowd):

emille: akira the 5 move wonder. some people might get annoyed playing someone who uses such a small repertoire of moves, but i don't mind. after the first night he beat me consistently, which i also don't mind. attitude, however, is another matter....

shota: see "andy". after every round, all i could think was "my god i'm easy to throw...." shota also plays with only a few moves: punch, low punch, elbow, throw, boot kick (against risers)--am i missing anything? again, i'm not bothered by this, actually it's kinda interesting how this style focuses your attention almost completely on flow.

hiro: played him before, as always very impressed. who wouldn't be? i'm jealous how he can play for fun without worrying at all about winning or losing. i can do that do, but after a while too many loses will take their toll on my emotions.

harold: he played sarah, but i wished he would have played kage more. sure, there were a lot of kages at the gathering, but no other kages that played like he did. i remember one match where he repeatedly turned around, dashed off, turned back and hit with ff+k+g. when was the last time you saw that move connect? i was impressed.

nelson: as always, a joy to play and a joy to watch.

jeff: didn't play him much. he seemed a little beat. i don't have much experience with tb, so i'm learning to use new tricks all the time. when i was playing adam right before i left, i "discovered" u/b+e with lion vs. rising attacks. too overwhelmed by my new discovery, all i could think of doing after successful evading akira's high riser was d/b+k. jeff was talking to shota, and he kinda snickered that i was using the same lame follow-up after each successful dodge. hmmfff. fyi, i have since learned a couple more follow-ups.

adam: if only i had a better defense....

eric: why didn't you play more?!?!? every time i saw you, you were either asleep or just watching. however, jeff noted that you were the most improved player, so after i left you must have played some more.

josh: see "eric" part 1.

am i forgetting anyone? oh, there were the sc players. i hope you guys weren't too bored. wish i could have had a drink before all the beer was gone.

and extra mention should go to the lovely elise for contributing her presence, jenny for the same and for participating; condolences to emily and shota's girlfriend.

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>

Regardless, it was nice to have played those few players whom I haven't played before. Now I can once again reassert my VF claim to fame as "the guy who's lost to everyone."
-Jason